Point is, 1 isn't enough for Hawks

Chris KucTribune staff reporter

The Blackhawks chose to take the positive side of gaining just one point Sunday.

At a time when every point is critical, the Hawks failed to earn two. But after rallying twice to erase third-period deficits in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers, they got one point and climbed within five of the final Western Conference playoff spot.

"You get the point and you take the point and you run, but obviously we need to be getting two points every night," said veteran center Kevyn Adams, who returned after missing 53 games with a knee injury. "We all know what the standings are, and we know where we have to end up. We did a lot of good things out here, and you take the positive out of it."

Before a United Center crowd of 20,619, Andrew Cogliano's tip-in off a terrific cross-ice pass from Robert Nilsson won it for Edmonton, which prevailed for the 17th time in 22 games that have gone to the extra period or a shootout this season.

"It was a gutsy effort," Hawks coach Denis Savard said. "We were down twice in the third and never gave up and kept battling back. We got a point, [but] you'd like to get two."

Robert Lang, who had a goal and two assists, and Dustin Byfuglien scored in the third period to lead the comeback after the Oilers scored five times on 23 shots in regulation against goaltender Patrick Lalime.

"It was tough not to get that second point, but it felt good to battle back," said Patrick Sharp, who scored his team-leading 34th goal to tie the game 1-1 after Dustin Penner's score early in the first period. "It felt like we were in control of the game, but there were a couple of bad bounces and a few unlucky goals. As a team we have to think about this one for a minute and put it in the bank and get ready for Detroit [Tuesday night]."

The Hawks' Duncan Keith and Jason Williams had goals in the second period, while Curtis Glencross and Nilsson scored for Edmonton as the game was 3-3 headed to the third.

"We battled hard, and we worked hard for our goals," said Keith, who scored his career-best 10th of the season. "It was just a weird game. We have to move on and prepare and forget about this and think about the game in Detroit and how we can win that one."

In the third period, Lang answered Marty Reasoner's goal with a power-play goal on a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot, and Byfuglien followed Cogliano's score with his own to send the game into overtime.

"We're hanging in there," Byfuglien said of the playoff race. "We got one point, at least. We just have to stay positive and keep working hard.

"We had a lot of big games this week. We didn't get the results we wanted in every game, but that's the way it goes sometimes."